"Turkey is a country that is negotiating complete membership in the EU," he told the Kathimerini daily, insisting that while "cooperation between Mediterranean countries is important one must render the existing cooperations more efficient rather than move towards new initiatives."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who opposes Turkey's entry into the European Union, has proposed to create a union of countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea which Ankara could join instead.

Gul, who has launched a controversial bid to become Turkey's next president, emphasised "the great responsibility of the elite politicians in the countries" that refuse Turkey EU membership, insisting on "Turkey's role of moderation (which) constitutes important values that the EU should not ignore."

The foreign minister also blasted "the attempt to transfer the case of the Cypriot problem from the UN to the European Union to reach unilateral concessions from Turkey."

"If this stringent policy continues, I'm afraid there will be no room for optimism," he said.

As for Ankara's continuing battle against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Gul said it was "the main priority of the Turkish government."

"We have decided to take all the indispensable measures to reduce the terrorist threat from northern Iraq," he said.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK, classified as a terror organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Turkey charges that thousands of PKK rebels have found refuge in northern Iraq where they are able to obtain weapons and explosives to launch attacks across the border.